Per Mertesacker is entrusted with the job of collecting fines from Arsenal players in breach of club discipline but the German may find himself going cap in hand to manager Arsene Wenger for his place in the team.

Crystal Palace will step up plans to redevelop ­Selhurst Park into a 40,000-seater stadium after winning ­promotion to the Premier League.

Co-chairman Steve Parish, chief executive Phil Alexander and coach Ian Holloway were meeting today to discuss how much of their £120million windfall will be put towards the ground.

They were also beginning talks over transfer targets but Parish has told Standard Sport Palace will not spend recklessly this summer as they hope to copy the template by clubs such as Swansea for staying in the top flight.

Palace are back in the Premier League for the first time since 2005 but they will have one of the smallest capacities in the division of just 26,309.

The club, though, are looking at expanding Selhurst Park, having given up hope of redeveloping the site at Crystal Palace Park.

Parish said: “We want to create a lasting legacy for the club. We want to rebuild Selhurst — that is the most expedient thing.

“The club made representations to people about what we could do to help Crystal Palace Park. We felt a stadium there would have been hugely beneficial. But we were told there were many people who would object to anything happening there and they’d rather it be knocked down or fall into disrepair.

“We’re focused on Selhurst and we’re masters of our own destiny there. We have a lot of support from Croydon Council. We’re looking at building a 35,000-40,000 seater, that’s what you need to be viable in the Premier League. It’s early days but winning promotion helps speed that work up a bit. We want it finished as soon as possible. Putting timescales on it is difficult because it’s not entirely in your control.

“There is planning and all sorts of hurdles. We’re working on redeveloping the ground a stand at a time and we’ve got Sainsbury’s on the site so we’ve been discussing things with them. But I’d like to be doing something in the next couple of years. It is going to take a year to get planning but we will still do a bit over the summer where we can.”

Parish is also keen to ensure they do not put the club’s future at risk again by wasting a fortune on players to keep them in the top flight. They’re interested in relatively cheap talent such as Peter Odemwingie, whose £3.5m move to Queens Park Rangers fell through in January, Tom Ince, a £6m target of Liverpool that month, and Tottenham’s Jake Livermore, while still using the current squad and the Academy.

Parish was part of a consortium that helped save the Eagles from going bust three years ago and added: “We have to have a go but we have to be prudent. QPR aren’t the only example [of spending a lot on transfers and still getting relegated].

“They’re getting picked on at the moment but there are a lot of clubs who have spent too much in the Premier League and ended up regretting it.

“We are looking at teams like Norwich, Southampton and Swansea who have done a fantastic job up there. They are the blueprint of success that we will be looking at and trying to emulate.

“Today we will start work in earnest. I will sit down with Phil the chief executive and Ian to go through everything. We have got to be sensible. We’re playing catch up with teams who have been in the Premier League for years.

“We have got to get the balance right. The plan is to add one or two signings, but we are going to stick with the blueprint that has stood us in good stead over the years and go with the bulk of the players that got us there.

“We were the bookies favourites to go down from the Championship this season and already the favourites to be relegated next season. But we will try to defy the odds again.”